Securing one of the turkey legs is something for which I am fully prepared to go to war. The good thing about this is that this is a lesson most have learned over the years, and so outright aggression is usually not necessary. But the threat is always there.

Pocket Ninja:Securing one of the turkey legs is something for which I am fully prepared to go to war. The good thing about this is that this is a lesson most have learned over the years, and so outright aggression is usually not necessary. But the threat is always there.

If you can't cook a turkey such that the white meat is delicious and flavorful, you're doing it wrong. I just stuff mine with aromatics and cook it breast-side down, so the white meat gets all the extra juices and flavor. We eat some of the dark meat, but most of that is reserved for turkey gumbo later on in the week.

Every year, every farking year, I ask as nicely as I can, "Hey, how about we get a ham as well? Or some fish. Or I grill a steak?". And every year, every year without fail, is supposed to be the year that this new awesome super special recipe is totally going to turn me on to turkey so shut up about that other stuff. And it never does. And I feel like weeping.

And then my in laws always come for Christmas from Europe, where there is no Thanksgiving, so I get to do it twice in two months. And my family wonders why I keep a bottle of rum in my office closet.

calm like a bomb:Every year, every farking year, I ask as nicely as I can, "Hey, how about we get a ham as well? Or some fish. Or I grill a steak?". And every year, every year without fail, is supposed to be the year that this new awesome super special recipe is totally going to turn me on to turkey so shut up about that other stuff. And it never does. And I feel like weeping.

And then my in laws always come for Christmas from Europe, where there is no Thanksgiving, so I get to do it twice in two months. And my family wonders why I keep a bottle of rum in my office closet.

Yes, if you're buying a turkey that's been frozen since December so an incompetent can shove it unmodified into a 365 degree dessicator and ignore it for nine and a half hours, the meat will be dry and tasteless.

calm like a bomb:Every year, every farking year, I ask as nicely as I can, "Hey, how about we get a ham as well? Or some fish. Or I grill a steak?". And every year, every year without fail, is supposed to be the year that this new awesome super special recipe is totally going to turn me on to turkey so shut up about that other stuff. And it never does. And I feel like weeping.

And then my in laws always come for Christmas from Europe, where there is no Thanksgiving, so I get to do it twice in two months. And my family wonders why I keep a bottle of rum in my office closet.

One year it was just my parents and I. My mother made the suggestion of having something else and my father threw a tantrum like I have never seen before. 20 pound turkey and all the fixings for 3 people. Thank FSM there was lots of booze.

This is indeed true. Several of the awesome reasons why they are tastier is that they are physically, structurally different from the Broad Breasted White turkey that we get in the grocery stores. The meat distribution on the BBW turkey is 75% breast/wing and 25% leg/thigh, whereas the heritage birds are the more natural 50/50 breast/leg ratio. This gives them jumbo long legs and powerful hindquarters, and a smaller breast. The breasts on the heritage birds are also deeper (think deep greyhound type chests vs barrel-shaped bulldog chests) due to a much longer keelbone (breastbone), so you have to take that into consideration while cooking them.

Another fun physical difference that very much adds to the awesome flavor of heritage turkeys is the thick layer of corn yellow fat that they get under their skin. This fat layer does not develop in turkeys until 7 months of age, and since BBW turkeys are slaughtered at 2-4 months, they literally never get a chance to create this layer of delicious yellow gamebird fat. The heritage birds (slaughtered at 8-9 months) have it all throughout their body, like a pheasant or a wild duck. The fat melts off while you cook it, naturally self-basting the bird from the inside and giving it a richer, more intense flavor (its intense in a good way, not a gamey way).

/raises and eats heritage turkeys//had people fighting last year over who got to bring home the scraps from my 18pd Bourbon Red tom

Glenford:calm like a bomb: Every year, every farking year, I ask as nicely as I can, "Hey, how about we get a ham as well? Or some fish. Or I grill a steak?". And every year, every year without fail, is supposed to be the year that this new awesome super special recipe is totally going to turn me on to turkey so shut up about that other stuff. And it never does. And I feel like weeping.

And then my in laws always come for Christmas from Europe, where there is no Thanksgiving, so I get to do it twice in two months. And my family wonders why I keep a bottle of rum in my office closet.

One year it was just my parents and I. My mother made the suggestion of having something else and my father threw a tantrum like I have never seen before. 20 pound turkey and all the fixings for 3 people. Thank FSM there was lots of booze.

What you should do there is buy the turkey fresh, and have it cut in half. Cook half for Thanksgiving, freeze the other half for Christmas. Plenty of meat for three people.

This is indeed true. Several of the awesome reasons why they are tastier is that they are physically, structurally different from the Broad Breasted White turkey that we get in the grocery stores. The meat distribution on the BBW turkey is 75% breast/wing and 25% leg/thigh, whereas the heritage birds are the more natural 50/50 breast/leg ratio. This gives them jumbo long legs and powerful hindquarters, and a smaller breast. The breasts on the heritage birds are also deeper (think deep greyhound type chests vs barrel-shaped bulldog chests) due to a much longer keelbone (breastbone), so you have to take that into consideration while cooking them.

Another fun physical difference that very much adds to the awesome flavor of heritage turkeys is the thick layer of corn yellow fat that they get under their skin. This fat layer does not develop in turkeys until 7 months of age, and since BBW turkeys are slaughtered at 2-4 months, they literally never get a chance to create this layer of delicious yellow gamebird fat. The heritage birds (slaughtered at 8-9 months) have it all throughout their body, like a pheasant or a wild duck. The fat melts off while you cook it, naturally self-basting the bird from the inside and giving it a richer, more intense flavor (its intense in a good way, not a gamey way).

/raises and eats heritage turkeys//had people fighting last year over who got to bring home the scraps from my 18pd Bourbon Red tom

bingethinker:Glenford: calm like a bomb: Every year, every farking year, I ask as nicely as I can, "Hey, how about we get a ham as well? Or some fish. Or I grill a steak?". And every year, every year without fail, is supposed to be the year that this new awesome super special recipe is totally going to turn me on to turkey so shut up about that other stuff. And it never does. And I feel like weeping.

And then my in laws always come for Christmas from Europe, where there is no Thanksgiving, so I get to do it twice in two months. And my family wonders why I keep a bottle of rum in my office closet.

One year it was just my parents and I. My mother made the suggestion of having something else and my father threw a tantrum like I have never seen before. 20 pound turkey and all the fixings for 3 people. Thank FSM there was lots of booze.

What you should do there is buy the turkey fresh, and have it cut in half. Cook half for Thanksgiving, freeze the other half for Christmas. Plenty of meat for three people.

Great idea in theory, but dad likes to have the whole goddamn bird on the table so he can make a show of carving and serving it. That's after everyone is seated and waiting and he suddenly remembers he needs to hone the carving knife and spends 10 minutes looking for the steel.